2. Concepts of print & the alphabetic principle

A preschool child picks up an unfamiliar book, opens it to the end, points to the text, and begins to "pretend read" the story. These behaviors suggest that the child most likely:

• has well-developed book-handling skills.

• knows where individual words begin and end.

• has developed an understanding that print carries meaning.

• understands the concept of print directionality.

A preschool child draws a stick figure and makes some unintelligible scribbles around it. When she shows it to her teacher, she points to the scribbles and says, "This says 'I love mommy.'" This behavior suggests that the child most likely:

• is ready to learn the concept of letter-sound correspondence.

• is beginning to develop awareness that words are made of distinct phonemes.

• has a basic understanding of the alphabetic principle.

• has grasped the idea that the function of print is distinct from that of pictures.

At the end of each school day, a preschool teacher encourages the children to talk about the day's events. As the children describe each event, the teacher writes it on large block paper. Afterward, the teacher reads the list back to the class. This activity would contribute to the children's literacy development primarily by promoting their:

• basic understanding of the alphabetic principle.

• awareness that speech can be represented by writing.

• basic understanding of word boundaries.

• awareness of the relationship between syllables and the spoken word.

A kindergarten teacher hangs labels on key objects in the classroom, puts up posters that include words and captions, and always has a big book on display for the children's use. This kind of classroom environment is most likely to help promote children's:

• recognition that words are composed of separate sounds.

• recognition of high-frequency sight words.

• development of automaticity in word recognition.

• development of an awareness of print.

A preschool teacher is reading a story to his class. As he reads, he holds the book so the children can see the words and pictures while his finger follows the line of print. This activity would contribute to the children's reading development primarily by:

• promoting their development of letter recognition skills.

• helping them recognize phonemes that occur frequently in print.

• developing their awareness of left-to-right directionality.

• promoting their understanding of letter-sound correspondence.

Pointing out the title, beginning, middle, and end of a book to a group of preschool children before reading the book aloud to them contributes to their reading development primarily by promoting their:

• understanding of text directionality.

• development of book-handling skills.

• understanding of the concept of schema.

• development of literal comprehension strategies.

Which of the following strategies would be most effective in promoting kindergarten children's ability to recognize and name letters of the alphabet?

• The teacher says the name of a letter while the children each trace its shape on a cutout letter.

• The teacher posts the entire alphabet around the room in several different formats.

• The teacher reads aloud to the children from books that contain mostly words that follow regular phonics patterns.

• The teacher emphasizes the initial sounds of words when reading to the children.

Having kindergarten children practice tracing the letters of the alphabet in sand is most appropriate for children who are having difficulty:

• internalizing the alphabetic principle.

• recognizing that print carries meaning.

• understanding the relationship between spoken and written language.

• developing letter formation skills.

A preschool teacher shows a group of children pictures of everyday objects. Below each picture is printed the letter of the alphabet that corresponds to the word's initial sound. As the teacher points to each picture, she names the object, then she points to the letter underneath it and says the sound it makes. The teacher invites the children to repeat the sound with her. This activity is likely to contribute to the children's reading development primarily by:

• illustrating the concept of word boundaries.

• focusing on auditory discrimination skills.

• introducing the concept of onset and rime.

• demonstrating that phonemes are represented by letters.

A kindergarten teacher wants to promote students' understanding of the alphabetic principle. Which of the following would be the most effective first step in a sequence of instruction designed to achieve this goal?

• Talk with students about selected consonants using a series of posters that each feature one consonant and contain pictures of items whose initial phoneme demonstrates that consonant's sound.

• Have students trace both lowercase and uppercase letters of the alphabet and then practice reproducing the letters on their own.

• Talk with students about the title, beginning, middle, and the end of a story and point to these parts while reading the story aloud from a big book.

• Put labels on several familiar objects in the classroom and regularly read the labels aloud to the students.